In someone else's sneakers

By: Heather Sprigler

Posted: 1/12/09

Since I became a U-News photographer in August 2007, I have had the opportunity to attend every sporting event, every organizational gathering and every function UMKC has had to offer-or at least those that requested our presence.

I have seen formal functions, informal disasters, speakers with no audience, masses of vendors, etc. But there is nothing quite as intriguing as watching our men's basketball games this season.

Last season, I took on basketball all by myself, much to my own protests. I almost hate sports. I really feel like they are pointless. It's the same plays every year, just with different people.

However, the rest of society seems to feel sports could be the center of the universe. This semester, I have tried to put away my impatience and ignorance and actually try to learn something about sports starting with men's basketball.

In August, when we had dorm move-ins, I thought our men's basketball team had skipped out. I did not realize there were only a couple of members from last year's men's team that remained. We pretty much got an entirely new team.

When basketball season started, I went to the "Show and Tell" event at the College Basketball Experience in the Power and Light district only to realize I didn't recognize anyone except Dane Brumagin and James Humphrey.

All I could think was how difficult it was going to be to learn all of the new players' names to make photo captioning easier.

As this season has progressed, I have become more depressed at the thought of covering the men's basketball games. It seems like we play every game just hard enough to lose by a few points. It's incredibly frustrating for me to take wonderful shots of Fred Ford or Spencer Johnson racing down court only to have our writers report we lost again.

The entire team looks amazing on film until we get to the scoreboard. It's enough to make an unemotional girl cry. Worst of all, I just learned how to read a stat sheet.

Every game is more-or-less the same. Brumagin is carrying this team and suffering because of it. I constantly wonder what it is like to be him. He is the only senior on a team full of rookies. He shows excellent leadership potential. He makes his free-throws, scores most the points, does everything he can.

Coach Brown keeps him on the court most of the game, but it really seems to almost be a negative deal. When the players came back out on the court after half-time on Saturday, Dane looked exhausted.

How could he not? Can you even imagine the stress it must bring to carry so many grown men? And there doesn't seem to be any relief in sight.

The athletics department keeps "their" students in this huge protective bubble. The media can't contact any of the players on any team (including ping-pong if we had it) without prior consent from them-which we will never get.

Then they have the right to censor us on what we ask the players. If I were to go to a post-game press conference and ask Dane what it was like to be him, to have to lead a team that comes just short of victory every game and still stay strong and positive, you could bet your ass they would ban me from the conference rooms indefinitely.

I may be banned just for writing this article. They may even pull my press pass and refuse to allow me to take pictures of their teams again.

What's wrong with letting a player vent? How can it be legal to keep these guys under such tight lock and key?

I can understand damage control. Trying to convey to students that they represent their schools 24/7 and everything they do reflects upon their team.

But I don't see any of these gentlemen spitting on a hooker in a nightclub anytime soon.

I am hopeful Dane's persistent dedication and continual leadership will kick the team into high gear before the Summit League tournament in South Dakota this year.

I would like to be able to proudly publish photos of our team playing so well this year, and actually look forward to seeing them play.

I know it must be hard to be the only senior on the team, and building comradery does take time. Now we really need to get it together. Play as a team, and not just any team, but a great team.

We have so much potential, and it's all just warming the bench.

If nothing else, I want everyone to know that I have warmed up to sports and will be writing more about them this semester.

But be prepared for some serious commentary. I want to convey the feel for the game: good, bad or indifferent.

Best of luck to you all.

hsprigler@unews.com